


i'll have a martini, dry

by wo_ozis



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Bartenders, Based off a meme, Kissing, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, bisexual agenda, hoshi nose piercing, so soft, soonyoung's a phony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 07:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19807456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wo_ozis/pseuds/wo_ozis
Summary: “You’re new here, right?” He asks, resting his elbow on the bar and his chin on his palm, eyes studying Soonyoung’s face, faltering at his nose. “I’ll have a martini, dry.”Soonyoung stops dead, looking at the bottle full of liquid beside him and back up at the boy. “I really don’t know how to tell you this.”





	i'll have a martini, dry

On Soonyoung’s first night bartending, he realises that lying on his resume about having six years of experience may come back to bite him in the ass.

His first customer asks for a funky cocktail that he’s never even heard of and has to tell him the ingredients. He’s just thankful it’s busy enough for Joshua to be distracted with other well-paying bar-goers so he doesn’t pick up on Soonyoung’s clear inexperience.

His second customer asks for a rum and coke and Soonyoung has drank enough of that in his lifetime to know how to throw that together, eyes darting over the endless selections of rum brands before letting the customer pick instead – that’s the safest option.

It dies down at around 8pm, the day drinkers slowly trickling away and the night drinkers not quite making it out yet. Joshua makes his way over to Soonyoung, eyes travelling up and down his body swiftly before telling him to re-tuck his shirt.

Soonyoung thinks he’s a goner when Joshua brings up a conversation about popular cocktails and his favourite to mix, and _God_ , Soonyoung’s in way over his head.

“I’m partial to a Cosmopolitan,” he spits out unintelligently, fingers twirling at his nose ring, watching as Joshua scans his face, falling for the act. “I just love gin.” He adds, making Joshua’s eyebrows rise.

Joshua opens his mouth to respond but is cut short when the door bursts open and a crowd of rowdy boys stumble in, toppling over each other and almost tripping over each other’s feet to make it to the bar first. Most of them head over to Joshua, greeting him happily – Joshua starts mixing their drinks before they even tell him what they want. Soonyoung stands to the side, one hand holding his other arm and head tilted as he watches.

As they chat, Joshua averts his gaze to Soonyoung’s direction, asking him to make a house red wine, large, and an iced lemonade. He kind of gulps, quickly turning to the wine glasses and picking the largest one. He’s seen Joshua do this before and he knows it gets filled halfway, so he does that maybe a little generously and then grabs a regular glass and scoops ice into it, using the lemonade pump to fill the rest of the way. He spots the lemon slices to the side and slots one over the glass and pops a straw in for good measure.

“Thanks, Soonyoung,” Joshua smiles as he steps around him to pick up a shot glass. He watches Joshua fill it up and slide it over to the boy that’s stood closest to Soonyoung. The boy laughs and tips it back with ease that Soonyoung thinks is kind of a talent, before turning to stare at Soonyoung dead in the eyes.

“You’re new here, right?” He asks, resting his elbow on the bar and his chin on his palm, eyes studying Soonyoung’s face, faltering at his nose. “I’ll have a martini, dry.”

Soonyoung stops dead, looking at the bottle full of liquid beside him and back up at the boy. “I really don’t know how to tell you this.”

The boy raises his eyebrows and waits for Soonyoung to continue before he giggles and sits up straight in his seat. Soonyoung can’t believe a man that looks this attractive under the bar light just giggled in front of him. “So, you’re like, _new_ new?”

“How can you tell?” Soonyoung gulps, reaching for what he’s labelled in his head as a martini glass. He reaches for the Vermouth and the boy hums. 

“I asked for a dry martini and you thought I meant physically dry,” he says. “You just use the extra dry Vermouth instead of the normal. Also, that’s vodka. You need gin. Please don’t give me vodka it’s disgusting.”

Soonyoung’s lips form an ‘o’ shape as he puts down the green bottle and spins on his heel to find the extra dry one. He feels eyes on him as he presses up onto his toes to grab it, turning back to the other boy. He’s staring at him with a fond smile and watches him fumble with the top of the bottle. 

“Joshua’s watching you,” the boy says. “You know, he thinks you lied on your resume.”

Soonyoung’s hand slips and he puts a little too much gin in the glass, eyes widening as he quickly looks up at the boy before him. He curses under his breath and sighs, topping up the martini with the Vermouth and sliding it towards his customer, dropping an olive into the glass quickly. “I should go and talk to him,” he mutters to himself, hands itching to play with his nose ring, and wanders down the bar to Joshua.

There’s a dry lump in his throat that he struggles to swallow as he approaches Joshua, twisting his hands into a knot as he smiles nervously, opting to pretend like he’s non-the-wiser. “Hey,” he says, squeezing his hands together. As he opens his mouth to admit he’s a phony, Joshua interrupts him, resting a hand on the bar and slightly tilting his head. Three of the customers from before are clearly listening in, and Soonyoung thinks he’s going to be sick.

“You’ve never worked in a bar before, have you?” Joshua smiles, almost too sweetly, and Soonyoung feels his throat close at the accusation. _It’s not an accusation_ , an unhelpful voice reminds him of the truth in Joshua’s statement.

Part of Soonyoung wants to lie and tell Joshua that _pfft, of course I have_ , but his rational and moral side sinks in defeat as he puts on a sheepish and tentative smile, 100% ready to pull out the puppy dog eyes. 

He sighs in utter defeat, shaking his head and taking interest in his newly purchased black shoes that he thought screamed bartender. At least he was committed.

“How could you tell?” a small sarcastic laugh escapes Soonyoung as he asks, finally lifting his eyes to look at Joshua. He doesn’t even look mad, he looks somewhat amused as he folds his arms and leans against the bar, glancing at the group of boys and Soonyoung’s customer who are still perched there, listening in with smug interest.

“Where do I start?” Joshua asks with a small chuckle, gaining a rumble of laughter from their small audience. “Your shoes still have the label on, you said a cosmopolitan has _gin_ in it, you put way too much gin in Jihoonie’s martini, and also, he had to tell you how to make the martini.” 

Soonyoung smiles sheepishly. “Guilty.” There’s a pause of silence before Soonyoung sighs. “I’m really sorry, I was just desperate for a job and this was kind of my last hope… It was actually really nice to work here, and I wish I was experienced enough for you to keep me…” he trails off, frowning to himself and picking at his sleeve. “But I’ll um, leave, I guess? Do you want the uniform back? I can dry-clean it and drop it by-”

“I’ll train you,” Joshua says nonchalantly, picking up his pen and sticking a post-it-note down on the notice board, with ‘ _Soonyoung training_ ’ scrawled across it. “You know you could’ve just put ‘willing to be trained’ on your resume and you still would’ve got the job. We were desperate.” 

“Really?!” Soonyoung beams, standing upright and clasping his hands together. Joshua nods and Soonyoung all but squeals, bowing and thanking him repetitively. Their onlookers smile, necking back their drinks and losing interest in the unfolding scene.

Soonyoung takes the opportunity to be trained as soon as possible, popping by the next day when Joshua is there and is shown the basics. How to make a wine that’s not too generous, how to mix simple spirit and mixer combinations – apparently there’s a literal contraption that measures a single or a double shot for this especially.

It turns out, that after taking a few orders on the quiet night and practicing his skills, Soonyoung’s pretty dexterous and can mix fast and accurately as long as he’s visually shown beforehand. He’s thankful most of the customers are patient and let the training be done on their time and money.

Joshua is supportive and he likes that Soonyoung’s an attentive and fast learner and they quickly become friends, chatting about mundane things aside from work and even exchanging phone numbers. Soonyoung learns that Joshua co-owns the small bar with his boyfriend Jeonghan who’s currently vacationing with his family in China. They live together just a block away from the bar and Joshua is planning to expand into the lot beside them for a beer garden and an outdoor seated barbecue area.

Soonyoung enjoys working there, despite the unsociable finishing time of 3am when they close, he learns to love his job. Within weeks he becomes _impressively_ good at his job, even showing off and doing tricks while mixing cocktails. Joshua likes having Soonyoung there for a shift, even calling Jeonghan one time on his break to rave about him.

Another thing Soonyoung notices is the importance of regulars – they seem to have routines and favourite drinks and they tip generously if you remember the little things. Soonyoung leans against the bar on a quiet night, eyes following the pride flag that’s hung above the bar as it gently sways with the breeze from the stand fan. Joshua’s left for his break during their quietest hour and leaves Soonyoung to his own devices, with one couple sat in a booth in the corner and one girl sat at the bar on her phone, seemingly waiting for someone as she orders two vodka and lemonades. 

She accepts the drinks without thanks and throws a $10 bill at Soonyoung, tapping away at her phone as he rings it through the register and hands her the change. The small chime of the door opening causes Soonyoung to lift his eyes from the array of glasses he was about to sort. It’s one of his regulars – Martini, Dry – who quickly walks towards the girl he just made two vodka lemonades for.

“I got you a vodka lemonade,” she says. “You’re my tinder guy, right?”

Soonyoung cringes, turning his back. Martini, Dry hates vodka, he told him this fact the first time they met. He busies himself with the glasses, placing them on the corresponding shelves and letting his eyes wander to the tinder date beside him – they obviously don’t know each other that well if he’s sat with a seat between them, hasn’t touched his drink and is staring at Soonyoung anyway.

Wait, Soonyoung realises, _he’s staring at me_.

Heat climbs up his neck and he spins, reaching up to nervously fiddle with his nose ring as he glances over into the back room where Joshua is standing up from the couch and wandering back towards the bar. Thank God, he thinks, itching for his break. He doesn’t know how much more of this awkwardness he can take. 

Joshua takes over Soonyoung and sends him away on his break. Soonyoung fills up a pint glass with lemonade for himself and glances upwards, realising Martini, Dry has a full glass of vodka lemonade in front of him and is picking at the bar snacks, the seat where Tinder Girl was previously sat now vacant.

Soonyoung’s eyes linger on the boy and he pulls his lips into a friendly and sympathetic smile as he wanders through to the back room.

By the time his forty-five-minute break is over, Soonyoung expects the bar to be a little livelier. There’s the faint sound of the karaoke machine boosting up and Soonyoung huffs, not feeling in the mood to listen to drunk men sing songs about sex or broken hearts. He slips through the door to the bar and sends a tight-lipped smile to Joshua who’s currently serving, and quickly busies himself with serving someone else who’s waiting. 

The queue dwindles and Soonyoung watches with interest as Joshua begins counting a tip he just received, tucking half of it into Soonyoung’s belt with a wink. He feels his chest tighten – that must be a $20 tip at least. Who is _that_ from? 

He opens his mouth to ask who the money came from when he hears the microphone being fumbled with and someone clear their throat. Joshua is smiling as he polishes a glass, setting it back down on the display and muttering to Soonyoung, “He’s so talented.”

Soonyoung cranes his neck to the karaoke machine and feels his face break out into a grin as he sees Martini, Dry stood with the microphone clutched between his hands. Soonyoung takes a moment to greedily check him out, running his tongue over his bottom lip as he takes in the image of his slim frame adorned by a short-sleeved shirt that’s tucked into some skinny black jeans and a white belt with a matching coloured pair of sneakers.

Soft piano music plays and Soonyoung quickly realises he’s singing _All of Me_ by John Legend and he rolls his eyes at the cheesiness before turning his attention back to the glasses. Then the higher notes come and the clench in Soonyoung’s chest causes his gaze to drift back to the singer. His hands still on the glass, entranced by the voice and the sweetness of the song, no longer caring that it’s sickeningly cheesy.

“He’s gorgeous,” Soonyoung breathes to himself, smiling to himself as the boy wraps it up and mumbles a ‘thank you’ into the mic. Joshua chuckles beside him.

“Whipped looks good on you.” He whispers before serving a customer. If Soonyoung isn’t blazing red already, he definitely is now as Martini, Dry comes to sit before him.

He begins whipping up a dry martini and grins as he pops an extra olive in it. _Is that your attempt at flirting?_ He hears Joshua whisper behind him as he passes by and promptly ignores it before complimenting the singer before him. “You’re so talented…” he almost calls him _Martini, Dry_ out loud and bites his tongue quickly, tilting his head and smiling.

Suddenly it’s an invitation for the boy to offer his name and Soonyoung flushes at the unintentional invasion of his privacy. “Jihoon. And… thank you,” He fills in quickly, flashing a smile and pushing an olive between his lips, circling it past his teeth and biting down on it as he holds eye contact with the bartender. Soonyoung suddenly remembers Joshua had called him _Jihoonie_ in the past and it suddenly makes sense.

“Soonyoung,” he replies before his brain can catch up. Stupid – so, so, so stupid. Jihoon didn’t even _ask_ for his name. Jihoon smiles anyway, lips catching on the rim of his martini glass. Soonyoung makes a point of looking away and sub-consciously twiddling his nose ring.

“Did that hurt?”

Soonyoung’s eyes lift and he sees Jihoon’s gaze staring at his fingers that are twisting his piercing. He chuckles, leaning on the bar and resting his chin on his palm. “Not really. It was kind of over before I knew it! I’m just glad Joshua lets me keep it in.”

Jihoon hums. “Me too.”

He’s not sure if they’re flirting, but Soonyoung puts two olives in Jihoon’s martinis and when he asks for a gin and orange juice, he puts two slices of orange on the rim of the glass. Jihoon holds his alcohol well and pretty much walks out of the bar at 1am without a wobble in his step. He leaves behind a napkin with a doodle on it, Soonyoung’s pen discarded beside it. When did he give Jihoon his pen?

It's not an impressive doodle, in fact it’s almost illegible. Soonyoung guesses it’s some sort of animal with cute eyes and a bow tie. Smiling at the novelty, he tucks the napkin in his back pocket anyway and wipes down the bar, picking up Jihoon’s martini glass and sliding it over to the wash pile.

The next time Soonyoung sees Jihoon, he’s wearing slacks with suspenders and a clean white shirt. Soonyoung lets his eyes travel down his body appreciatively as he sits up on his usual seat. “No tinder date tonight?” he teases with a grin, picking up a martini glass.

“Actually, I’ll just have a Pepsi if that’s okay,” Jihoon’s voice is rough and his suspender is slipping off his shoulder. He looks stressed. “And oh _God_ , no. That was a tremendous fail.” He laughs with a shake of his head. Soonyoung giggles and slips some ice into a pint glass and pops it under the dispenser.

“It looked… promising,” Soonyoung provides with a comedic pause and Jihoon snorts. A warm glow fills Soonyoung’s chest as he slides over the glass and slips a straw into it before Jihoon can pick it up. “She was cute.”

Jihoon nods, “yeah…” There’s a pause. One second. Two seconds. “But she had no personality! She was on her phone the entire time and tried to feel me up twice.” Jihoon scrunches his nose. “Women are not worth my time.”

Soonyoung gulps, filling up a vodka lemonade for someone else and taking their payment. He belatedly notices he hasn’t charged Jihoon but there’s a $10 bill in front of him. He serves his customer and picks up the bill, ringing through Jihoon’s drink and carefully placing his change down next to him.

“There’ll be someone else,” Soonyoung purses his lips. “Lots of cute girls out there that might be worth your time.”

Jihoon makes a noise of disagreement. “You’ve got a girlfriend, haven’t you?”

“Me? Don’t be stupid,” Soonyoung laughs, pointing up to the pride flag above his head. “This was my idea. I’m gay.”

“Figures,” Jihoon sulks, pouting his lips around the straw. “Too cute to be straight.”

Soonyoung doesn’t quite know what that means but he wipes down the bar and rolls up his sleeves, watching Jihoon’s eyes follow the motion and finally arrive at his face. He knows he’s blushing, and he can’t exactly hide it, so he shakes his head instead.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hit on you,” he winks instead, embracing the situation and poking fun at himself. Jihoon frowns and Soonyoung’s kind of angry that he looks cute even when he’s frowning.

“That’s such a lame stereotype,” Jihoon says offhandedly, taking a swig of his drink. “I don’t understand straight people. So self-centred. Just because I like guys doesn’t mean I’m gonna hit on you, y’know?” he says, brows creased as be picks at the bar mat.

“I thought you were straight,” Soonyoung says dumbly, only picking up on that.

“Bi,” Jihoon picks up a handful of peanuts from the bar snack dish. Soonyoung bites back an _oh_ and fiddles with his nose ring. Jihoon watches him carefully and smiles half-heartedly before tipping back the rest of his drink.

Soonyoung is at a bit of a loss for words when he meets Jeonghan three days later. He’s got lilac hair with blond roots and pretty eyelashes and Soonyoung would be a liar if he said he wasn’t intimidated. He’s tall and slim and does a once-over on Soonyoung as soon as he sets foot through the door with Joshua.

Their second barman, Vernon, quickly scurries to clock out as soon as he sees them, leaving Soonyoung alone at the bar with Joshua grinning widely at him and stone-faced Jeonghan approaching.

“Hi, Soonyoungie,” Joshua greets with a cute nickname, the sound of it rolling off his tongue visably making Soonyoung relax. “This is Jeonghan, he just got back and wanted to meet you, so…”

Soonyoung’s eyes widen and he nods, bowing quickly and Jeonghan and smiling his most charming smile. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, I’ve heard a lot,” he glances at Joshua briefly, catching the faint dust of red over his cheeks.

Jeonghan finally breaks out in a smile and Soonyoung feels like he’s floating.

“You’re right, he’s adorable,” Jeonghan grins and reaches over the bar to squeeze Soonyoung’s cheeks. Soonyoung lets him. Boss perks. “We’re keeping you, for sure.”

Soonyoung laughs, “I’m glad to hear that. Are you… working tonight? Do I need to leave?” Soonyoung asks, knowing the two-barmen-only rule and Joshua just chuckles.

“It’s gonna be a busy night, Soonyoung. We need four. There’s a soccer match nearby and the team always come by here after, it’s kind of tradition.” Jeonghan fills in. He catches Vernon by the sleeve as he tries to manoeuvre his way out of the bar, who pouts as he’s sent to clock back in and stay for his entire shift. Jeonghan shrugs off his blazer and hangs it on the coat hook before stepping up into the bar and doing another once-over on Soonyoung. “So cute. Not surprised you get hit on a lot.”

“What?” Soonyoung splutters, turning around as Jeonghan walks past him. Joshua places a hand on the small of Soonyoung’s back and smiles, following Jeonghan to clock in.

“It’s funny really. You have absolutely no idea. You get flirted with _a lot_.” He chuckles and then glances at the clock. “If you wanna grab your break now, feel free. It’ll get busy in an hour or two and we’ll need you for that.”

Soonyoung nods, at a loss for words and hops down off the bar’s platform, walking towards the back room. As he does, the door chimes, and a glance over his shoulder shows Martini, Dry – Jihoon – walking in. Soonyoung waves with a smile and quickly disappears into the back room.

By the time he gets back from his break, it’s picked up a little and Jeonghan has turned up the music. Jihoon is perched at his usual seat at the bar and is smiling over the counter as Soonyoung walks through.

“Thank God,” Joshua laughs heartedly, “Jihoonie refused to be served by anyone except you. He’s waited your entire break!”

Jihoon sticks out his tongue playfully at Joshua and turns to Soonyoung, “you make really good martinis?” he offers lamely. Soonyoung laughs, rolling up his sleeves and picking up a glass. Joshua watches absentmindedly and Jeonghan takes other customer’s orders, while Jihoon watches Soonyoung carefully. 

The bar picks up quickly and Soonyoung can tell it’s not Jihoon’s kind of scene to be in a busy bar, and as he stands to leave, Jeonghan announces, “Okay Soonyoung, you can go. You’ve been here all day.” 

Soonyoung nods and clocks out without protest, aware of the pounding in his feet as he does. He bows to Jeonghan and Joshua and says goodbye, knowing he’ll see them tomorrow. He quickly shrugs on his coat and slings on his backpack before waving and sticking his tongue out and Vernon on the way.

The breeze that hits him when the door opens is a surprise, and he pursues his lips into a pout as he realises it’s raining too, his hoodless coat not being enough to keep the rain at bay. He mutters a curse under his breath and mentally prepares himself to make a run for it. It’s only a ten-minute walk to his flat… surely, he can run it in 5?

As he’s about to run, someone coughs to his right and an umbrella is being hovered above his head. He almost blushes at how cliché it feels but when he sees Jihoon, he blushes anyway.

“Oh, thank you,” Soonyoung laughs. “But I can’t take this off you to go home with.”

“I’ll walk you,” Jihoon suggests. “How far is it? Surely not far, right? Please don’t tell me you walk for three hours to get here.”

Soonyoung beams, stepping out and letting Jihoon follow, holding up the umbrella over their heads. “Ten minutes. I owe you big time.”

Jihoon shrugs and stuffs his free hand in his pocket. “So, I know we’ve like, met, but… I don’t really know much about you,” he says slowly, turning to look at the side of Soonyoung’s face. The rain is hammering onto the umbrella and his wrist wobbles as the wind gusts.

“I’m… not much,” Soonyoung chuckles, puffing out his lips and curling the sleeves of his coat over his fists. “I just graduated uni and I’m taking a year to myself. I hadn’t really decided what I wanted to do, and my major wasn’t all that helpful, anyway.” Jihoon hums and continues to listen. “So, I moved out into my own flat that I can afford from my savings from my part-time job during uni. I lied on my resume and Joshua caught me and somehow didn’t fire me and here I am.” He shrugs.

Jihoon nods and looks down at his feet. “I feel that, the whole not-knowing-what-you-wanna-do thing,” Soonyoung stays quiet and glances at Jihoon as they turn a corner. “My parents tried to pull me into the family business… but I have no interest in car dealership, as you can imagine.”

Soonyoung laughs at that, rubbing his coat-paws together to try and warm up. “What do you have interest in?”

“Music,” Jihoon replies quietly, dipping his head. Soonyoung’s eyes widen a little as he kicks a stone, jutting out his bottom lip as it bounces into the road. “I have a composing scholarship, but my parents kicked me out for taking it. I start next year, and as of right now I’m on a gap year. 

“You live alone?” Soonyoung asks, frowning. “Isn’t that… lonely?” he says dumbly, realising the obviousness in his question, but Jihoon smiles fondly nonetheless.

“I like my space, but yeah. It can be. That’s why me and Seokmin always go to your bar together to get drinks, it’s my social time – but he kinda flaked on me the last few times. He’s hooking up with someone,” he rolls his eyes. “I have other friends, but I just click with Seokmin you know? Even if he’s annoying.” 

Soonyoung smiles, nodding. “I don’t really know many people. My family live in another state and I went to university there, but I just had to get out as soon as I could,” he huffs. “I only really know my landlord and people from the bar.” He admits shyly, finally giving in and tucking his hands into his pockets.

There’s a short silence before Jihoon speaks, “We should hang out sometime outside of the bar.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing now?” Soonyoung laughs, breezily. Jihoon rolls his eyes and shoves his shoulder lightly. “I’m kidding. But yes, we really should.”

They’re at Soonyoung’s doorstep before they even realise, and Jihoon smiles softly as he looks at the gnome placed on the step. Soonyoung follows is gaze and flushes a beautiful crimson, hand flying up to his nose ring. “It was a gift from my sister… I miss her,”

“I’m sure you’ll see her soon,” Jihoon supplies without thinking. Soonyoung blinks and drops his gaze before inhaling and pressing his lips into a tight smile.

“Yeah, well. This is me, so…” he trails off, fingers still twiddling his nose ring. “Thank you for walking me.”

Jihoon’s face lights up. “It’s no problem! I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” 

Soonyoung nods and unlocks his door. “See you tomorrow, Jihoon. Get home safe.”

Soonyoung falls sick the next day, shivering in bed. He spends the morning catching up on his anime before deciding he’s definitely too sick to go to work and sending Joshua and Jeonghan a text to let them know, littering it with emojis and apologies. They both reply with a worried ‘are you okay’ and Soonyoung feels his heart tighten at finally finding somewhere that people value him.

The day seems to drag – Soonyoung is too weak to get out of bed and spends most the day surrounded in energy drinks and snacks and curled in his comforter while watching Netflix on his laptop. It’s about 7pm when Jeonghan double texts him, waking Soonyoung from where he’d dozed off.

 **Jeonghan:** Jihoon is asking where you are

 **Jeonghan:** refuses to be served by me or Shua….. ><

Soonyoung bites back a grin as he types a reply.

 **Soonyoung:** tell him i’m sick and dying. He’ll have to branch out and get a martini, wet

 **Jeonghan:** I don’t get the joke but Jihoon is smiling like this ^u^

 **Soonyoung:** lol cute

The warmth in Soonyoung’s chest catches up to his temperature as he rolls over and smiles goofily into his pillow.

Soonyoung takes three sick days in total, running a high fever and curled up in bed feeling sorry for himself most of the time. Joshua stops by on the third day with snacks and some medicine and informs Soonyoung it’s not the same without him – when really Soonyoung knows that he’s only saying that to make him less pouty.

On the fourth day, Soonyoung feels a lot better, and with a final swig of medicine he gets himself ready for work, excited to see Joshua and Jeonghan again. It’s raining still; Soonyoung thinks it’s rained since he got sick, and halfway through the walk to the bar the clouds disappear, and the sun shines brightly. Soonyoung grins to himself. 

Part of Soonyoung is excited to see his friends and bosses again, and to get back to having fun behind the bar – but Soonyoung is mostly excited about seeing Jihoon again. Joshua texted him a few times saying _Jihoon is here_ , _Jihoon’s asking after you AGAIN_ , and Jeonghan even texted saying _please come back Jihoon is getting restless_.

It’s really sweet and Soonyoung blushes at the thought. He hopes his cheeks aren’t still burning when he opens the door, shrugging off his jacket and raking his eyes around. Unsurprisingly, Jihoon is sat in his normal spot, arms folded and legs swinging from the bar stool, talking to Vernon.

Vernon’s eyes meet Soonyoung’s and he grins widely. “Soonyoung!” he walks around the bar to hug him quickly. “Feeling better?”

Soonyoung nods and tucks his jacket over his arm, head tilting to the side to make eye contact with Jihoon. “Hey you.”

Jihoon jumps down from the stool and whispers, “Shut up,” before reaching up and curling his arms around Soonyoung’s neck. “Do you feel okay? Do you need anything? Medicine?" 

If he wasn’t blushing before he came in, he definitely is now. Soonyoung shakes his head and brushes his thumb over Jihoon’s side from their embrace, tucking his head into his neck and sighing happily. Pathetically, he tells himself not to cry as tears sting at his eyes. “Thank you.”

Soonyoung’s lips brush over Jihoon’s neck as he talks, and he whines when Jihoon’s fingers card their way through his hair. “This is gay.”

Joshua’s voice startles the two as Soonyoung catapults himself backwards, stumbling and blushing furiously. Joshua holds up his hand for a high-five as Soonyoung regains his balance, chuckling lowly at the scene before him.

“How you feeling, dude?” Joshua asks with a grin, patting his hand on Soonyoung’s shoulder and letting his eyes flicker to Jihoon.

“I’m good…” Soonyoung says in a small voice, letting his eyes fall to Jihoon too. “Really good.” He whispers to himself.

Soonyoung’s not sure how it happened or if it just happened right now – but he notices Jihoon’s got a cute kind of glow about him. The dim light from the bar reflects off his honey skin and his eyes shine when he looks at Soonyoung. His lips are pouty and glossy and Soonyoung thinks he wants Jihoon to kiss him. 

Joshua’s telling him to clock in and get changed quickly as it busies up, and Jihoon plops himself down at the bar straight away and orders himself a lemonade with some fries. Vernon brings out the fries and slaps Soonyoung’s back as a greeting and Soonyoung feels comfortably at home. The warmth builds in his chest and he thinks, _yeah, maybe I can work this out._

He looks at Jihoon and smiles as he pouts his lips around a paper straw and takes a sip of his drink and thinks: _I can definitely work this out._

Jihoon stops coming to the bar so frequently and Soonyoung doesn’t quite know how it happened, but Jihoon’s bar visits turn into showing up on Soonyoung’s doorstep with a football or his car and saying “park?” or “dinner?”. It’s romantic enough to leave Soonyoung’s stomach in knots when Jihoon drops him back home every time they hang out, walking him to the doorstep and giving him a long hug before departing.

Soonyoung’s not the best at detecting what Jihoon’s feeling, but he knows he’s gotten better at it. There are tell-tale signs such as his brows creasing or his nose scrunching that giveaway distress or anxiety and Soonyoung’s glad he’s already got to the point in their friend(?)ship that he can read him that well.

Their lives start to merge too. Jihoon picks up Soonyoung from work most nights and they head to the park with Jihoon’s friends or back to Jihoon’s place with his roommate Seokmin where they hang out and consequently become good friends too. Jihoon knows Soonyoung’s flat like the back of his hand, even sporting his own little draw in Soonyoung’s bathroom for his toiletries and his favourite shampoo.

It’s domestic and it’s comfortable, but Soonyoung can’t ignore the weight in his stomach when his mind drifts to his feelings for Jihoon. Anyone with eyes can tell that Soonyoung is head over heels for his best friend. 

Soonyoung’s finishing his shift at the bar when Jihoon shows up dressed head to toe in black with a pair of white Vans on his feet and a box tucked under his arm. “Hey,” Soonyoung says, mid-coat shrug. “What are you doing here?" 

“Thought I’d have a wet martini,” Jihoon grins, teasing Soonyoung for their first encounter. “I have every Harry Potter movie in blue ray HD in this box and I know you’re free for 2 days so we’re marathoning.”

“Hoon,” Soonyoung whines, waving at Jeonghan and blowing a kiss to Vernon as he follows Jihoon out. “I’m too sleepy to watch a movie.”

“Then we’ll nap first and _then_ watch it.” Jihoon insists, bumping his hip with Soonyoung’s and climbing into Soonyoung’s recently bought second-hand car. Jihoon kicks up his feet and tweaks the radio as Soonyoung buckles up and starts the engine, sleep already washing over him. 

Jihoon drops his feet and places a hand on top of Soonyoung’s head, ruffling his hair affectionately before smiling and opening up his phone. Soonyoung’s cheeks blaze the entire way home and Jihoon’s smile does not leave his face.

Jihoon cranks up Soonyoung’s AC straight away, huffing at the heat of the boy’s apartment. Soonyoung smiles guiltily, tugging his sweater close to his chest and curling up on the couch as soon as he’s toed off his trainers. Jihoon flops beside him and kicks one of his legs over Soonyoung’s wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pressing himself close. Soonyoung smiles, letting his body wrap around Jihoon’s until he’s basically laid on top of him, breath mingling as Jihoon peers down at Soonyoung.

“You have an eyelash,” Jihoon mumbles, pawing at Soonyoung’s cheek to get it off, poking his tongue out between his lips as he brushes it away. Soonyoung’s face in turn heats up and crimson crawls up his neck. He leans into Jihoon’s touch and sighs tiredly.

“Thanks, Hoon. Gonna sleep now.”

Jihoon’s fingers slot into Soonyoung’s hair. “Okay, baby… sleep well.”

Soonyoung wakes up to soft sounds of the TV and Jihoon’s chest shaking with laughter at whatever he’s watching. Soonyoung lifts his head, rubbing at his eye with his fist and yawning, bringing his feet up onto the couch. Jihoon looks at him, teeth showing as he smiles and says. “Morning, sleepyhead.”

“What time is it?” Soonyoung asks tiredly, tugging his sleeves over his fists as Jihoon shows his phone: 06:33. “Did you sleep?”

“Yes,” Jihoon smiles. “Like a baby. You’re so warm.” 

Soonyoung blushes. “I’m glad! I’m gonna shower and then we can start that Harry Potter marathon, sound good?”

Jihoon nods quickly and stands up. “I’m just gonna raid your fridge.”

“There’s nothing there. Go ahead.” Soonyoung retorts before sticking out his tongue and bolting to the bathroom to take a shower.

By the time he comes back from his shower with a towel slung over his shoulders and his chest bare, he potters into the kitchen in just some shorts and his favourite socks to see Jihoon filling up two bowls with ramen noodles. Soonyoung grins and makes himself known, stepping into Jihoon’s view.

Jihoon’s hand stills, eyes staring at Soonyoung’s chest before he clears his throat and pushes the fuller bowl to Soonyoung. “It’s kinda spicy.”

Soonyoung whines but thanks Jihoon anyway and perches at the counter to dig in. Jihoon stands, lost, for a while before he turns off the stove and grabs two bottles of juice for each of them. Soonyoung can feel Jihoon’s eyes on his chest, and he’s suddenly aware of the chill in the apartment from Jihoon’s control over the AC as he self-consciously tugs down the towel.

“Have you been working out?” Jihoon asks casually, stirring his chopsticks around his ramen. Soonyoung hums and slurps some of his food before nodding.

“Only a little.”

Jihoon doesn’t say anything else and keeps his eyes on his food the rest of the dinner. Soonyoung’s not sure why it’s suddenly become a little awkward, but he quickly washes up their pots and throws on a hoodie before settling down beside Jihoon on the couch. Jihoon lifts an arm instinctively and Soonyoung giggles a little before cuddling down into Jihoon.

Soonyoung presses his ear against Jihoon’s chest and his breath hitches. Jihoon’s heart is beating extremely fast. Soonyoung blushes and runs his fingers over Jihoon’s belly, grinning when his heartbeat quickens ever so slightly.

The intro to Harry Potter is playing on the TV and Soonyoung cranes his neck to look at Jihoon. “Hi,” he whispers, taking a breath and looking closely at Jihoon’s features. 

“Shh,” Jihoon smiles as he looks back to the TV. Soonyoung lifts his hand and slowly pulls Jihoon’s face to be looking at him before psyching himself up. His lips are _right_ there. Soonyoung is about to lean up and press his lips against Jihoon’s when Jihoon dips down and presses a short kiss to Soonyoung’s nose. Soonyoung squeals and presses himself closer to Jihoon, hiking himself up and shoving his face in Jihoon’s personal space.

“Kiss me,” he mutters, words half swallowed by Jihoon’s lips as the TV continues playing in the background. 

Jihoon’s lips are warm and his entire being is cosy, hands clasped firmly on Soonyoung’s waist as he presses his lips gently against Soonyoung’s. When Soonyoung smiles a little and moves his lips, Jihoon hums contently and reciprocates, muttering against Soonyoung’s mouth.

“I love you,” he breathes, pulling away to look at Soonyoung carefully. “I love you so much.”

Soonyoung makes a small noise before dipping his head back down and whispering, “I love you too,” with his breath fanning over Jihoon’s bottom lip.

**Author's Note:**

> i gave up sowwy i just wanted the martini meme


End file.
